The Price of Honor Read Online Free PDF

rigid, his contentment shattered. “I have told you I cannot.”
    Her face blanched. She threw his hand aside and boltedupright in the bed. Her eyes turned from soft and sated to wounded and betrayed.
    â€œIt will never be this good with her. ”
    â€œI know that, mon amante. ”
    Her lips quivered and she nipped the bottom one between her teeth. But she didn’t cry. No, his Megan had too much pride for tears—yet another quality he admired about her. She did not indulge in the emotional drama most women employed to get their way.
    â€œDo you really believe you can turn off what we have like a tap? That the feelings will stop just because you order them to?”
    He expelled a frustrated breath. Apparently they had not made as much progress as he’d believed. “I assure you it will not be easy. But it must be this way.”
    She climbed from the bed, stalked across the room and through an open door out of sight. When she returned she had her silk robe wrapped tightly around her. The fire blazing from her eyes had little to do with the passion they had just shared.
    â€œThat’s where you’re wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t have to settle for second. I want more than a temporary affair, Xavier. I deserve more. And if that’s all you have to offer then I don’t need you in my life. Get out and go home.”
    Another tantrum. How unlike her. Why was she acting so out of character? “As you have said, you will never find passion like ours with anyone else.”
    She folded her arms across her chest. “Watch me.”
    Jealousy discharged inside him. She pivoted on her heel and wisely retreated through that same door. The lock clicked, echoing through the silent room.
    He heard the shower turn on and cursed. She asked the impossible. He could not break his engagement no matterwhat games Megan played. Even without the Alexandre estate as incentive, he would not shame his family name the way his father had when he had cast honor aside for “love.” The subsequent marriage had failed, and it had cost the Alexandre family everything.
    Xavier vaulted off the bed and yanked on his clothing.
    He had no intention of repeating his father’s mistakes. He would simply find another way to coerce Megan into spending the next eleven months in his bed.
    And he’d be damned if he would allow her to take another lover. She belonged to him until he said otherwise.
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    â€œYou shouldn’t be lifting these by yourself. Not in your condition,” Hannah chided as she joined Megan in the riding ring.
    The diamond engagement ring on her cousin’s finger caught the sun and flashed like a strobe light as she grabbed the opposite end of the rail Megan was placing in the cup.
    â€œI’m being careful. And you heard the doctor say I should keep up my regular activities. Except riding. Tim will help me as soon as he finishes cooling down Midnight. He’s paying for his lessons by helping me set up the courses three days a week and by exercising my horses.”
    Hannah set the round pole into position and dusted off her hands. “It’s good of you to cut him a deal. You could be teaching only the highest-paying clients. Didn’t I predict someone with your qualifications would have your choice of students and a waiting list?”
    â€œYou did,” Megan conceded. “And thanks for setting that up. I help Tim because he has innate talent and a good horse. He reminds me of me when I first started out on my own—all raw talent and ambition. I’d hate to see him miss the chance to compete because his dad lost his job.” She paced off the distance to the next jump.
    Hannah accompanied her. “We have a new neighbor.”
    â€œWho?”
    â€œNo clue. Wyatt said some guy called his office and asked if he knew of any horse farms available in the area.” Her cousin’s face lit up whenever she